Game Guide: Workers

All three races have a worker unit: terrans use SCVs, protoss use probes, and the zerg use drones. Workers are crucial to the game - they gather resources to build combat units and buildings. When a player is cut off from his/her workers, the ability to create more workers, and a resource spot, their game is typically over - so target enemy workers! To utilize your workers to their utmost effect, consider the following suggestions and strategies:

Protect your workers! If a player's workers can no longer gather resources, their economy will flounder, usually resulting in a game loss.

Offensive Building: build a unit-producing building in the middle of the map or hidden near an enemy base (aka 'proxy'). This can allow you to get troops to the enemy base quickly.

More Offensive Building: protoss can sneak a probe into an enemy base and build photon cannons; terrans can do the same with bunkers. In some situations, zerg players can build a hidden hatchery and use it as a beachhead to siege an enemy base. Overlords with the ‘Generate Creep’ ability (available with the lair structure) can also create a space to build and burrow spine crawlers. Against other zerg opponents, zerg players can even use their enemy’s creep to build their own spine crawlers.

Hide workers when you're about to lose a base. It's possible to use them to build a new base elsewhere - and even rebuild and win the game!

Workers can fight if desperately needed - or if you're attempting to stage a quick assault with early-game units - but, otherwise, you should run them away from battle as fast as you can.

Ideal Workers
The ideal amount of workers is 22 (16 + 6 on gas) to 30 (24 + 6 on gas). To find out how many workers you have, hold control, and click the left mouse button on one of your workers, then count your total.

Return to Work After you have fought off an attack on your workers, don't forget to get them back to work. It's especially important to return the workers to gathering gas. If you have lost workers, make sure to train more to replace them.

Attack with workers
In rare situations, especially early in the game, workers can be used in combat to turn the tide of battle. Due to their low cost, workers can also be useful to block enemy units from reaching your combat troops.

Worker Harassment
Your scouting workers can be used to harass your enemy. This requires a lot of control, but it can put the enemy behind and psyche them out to the point where they make a mistake, delay their building, or become demoralized or annoyed. You can place workers in the way to block your enemy from building new structures, take over enemy vespene gas geysers by building on them, and attack workers or buildings just to be annoying.